Shadows Basket
by kokokandy
Summary: To every person, there is a shadow. And when shadows overlap, there are coincidences, betrayals and interesting things begin to happen. So what happens if you collect a number of them and put them in a basket? This is a story of one such cause.
1. A Bad Start

_ Please tell me if there's something I can improve on (no one has ever really reviewed my work so I want to find out what's wrong) and make suggestions, they will be taken into consideration. Enjoy!_

"Come and sit with us, Honda-san. It sucks to sit alone on your first day, girl. Trust me on that one," A blond haired girl gives me a broad, reassuring smile.

_I might as well sit. She doesn't seem particularly threatening._

_Or does she?_

"Are you, by the chance Tohru's best friend?"

"Yeah, so don't you dare hurt her, because you'll have to go through me first."

_Touchy. It's not like you're her mom or something. Sheesh._

_" _It's only because I have something to tell her." I point out.

"Sorry I've been so harsh," the blond girl admits "Name's Arisa Uotani. You can call me Ari-"

"I'm back Arisa, Saki!" Tohru turns to me. "Oh, Kitsu! I didn't know you were going to transfer to Kaibara, why didn't you tell me?"

I smile softly. "Sis, I thought you'd better off with a surprise.

"Sis?" Arisa and Saki exclaim.

"Guys. Chill." I say, "I'm her twin."

The expressions on the two girls' faces showcases a roller-coaster of emotions, but in the end, they can only muster a few words.

"T-twin? How come Tohru never...told..us?

"Kitsune didn't want anyone to worry about her, because it was around the time that my mother died, and she cried out fountains and fountains of tears, and was hospitalized for depression,"

"Oh, shut up."

"That explains it. She did have a rather emotional wavelength."

_And...this one's creepy as hell._

"Yeesh. Class time." I stand up and flash a genuine smile as that cursed bell rings through the cafeteria. "See ya guys!"

* * *

><p>"Dang, I'm gonna be late again!" I mumble to myself as I rush past people in those annoying corridors. I'm lost. This place is so confusing!<p>

"Tohru! I thought your classroom was downstairs! What are you doing here? Are you lost? If you are, I could hel-"

About five hundred responses fly to my head, but I choke them down in favour of the neutral.

"Thanks but no thanks."

The orange haired guy stares, then gives me a weird look, like a worried glare. If a worried glare exists.

Apparently, not neutral enough.

As I'm halfway to my classroom, there are three girls blocking my way, doing a cheerleader pose.

"Oh damn, what is it now?" I groan. "My teacher is probably going to murder me. I'm fifteen minutes late."

"L-O-V-E!"

"We love Yuki, Yuki!

"L-l-l-l-l-l-l-love, l-l-l-l-l-l-l-love!"

I laugh, then clap sarcastically. "Encore."

"Oi! You! Don't you dare try to talk to Prince Yuki! Even though you're only starting here don't you think you can push your luck!"

"Yeah! Prince Yuki is much more deserving of a princess! Whereas you're just a peasant!"

"You're a slut, you're twin's a slut, who brought you up? A slut!"

I stare at them. "Don't judge, little girl."

"Who are you calling little girl? You-"

"You mean you're not a girl?"

"Why you-"

I sigh.

"One, I don't know who this Yuki is. Isn't it rude to call someone you don't talk to that much just Yuki? Shouldn't it be Yuki-san?"

"Two, it's stupid to fan club over a person. Don't you think it's annoying to Yuki-san?"

"And three," I pause. " Don't criticize someone when they haven't even done anything!"

I check my watch. These idiots wasted three quarters of my period. What will the teacher do if I just walk in? Kill me, that's what.

No point in going.

I open the window and swing myself over, onto the slanted roof. It makes a noise and I wince.

As I carefully close the window, a girl walks by.

A girl with long ginger hair held up with unnaturally stiff ribbons, wearing huge rimmed glasses.

She doesn't look my way.

Phew.

Little do I know that she's going to light the fuse on the proverbial bomb.


	2. Sora

_Hi guys, back with another chapter! Thank you to lobalunallena for reviewing, and as for the purpose of Sora and Kitsune, you'll find out as you read on! Enjoy the chapter!_

_"_Hey, that girl looks lonely. Maybe we should invite her?" Tohru offered.

It's been a week since I joined Kaibara, and already I'm the famed holder for the most detentions and failed grades in the school. Yippee. Not like I care anyway.

Arisa smiles. "Sora? She's in my P.E, music and English classes. I sit next to her in music. She's a really nice person, we even went out for sushi once!"

Isn't Arisa a bit too happy?

Hey, isn't that the girl I saw pass by after last week's "escape"? What if she blackmails me?'_  
><span>_

_Shut up, brain. You can't judge someone just because they just happened to pass by when you were committing an illegal act._

"Sure," is all I say.

"Okay, then I'll invite her over!" Tohru smiles cheerfully and bounces up from her chair, knocking it over.

Typical Tohru.

I giggle softly, Arisa straightens it for her, but Saki doesn't say anything.

She's usually quiet. But usually when this sort of thing happens, a small smile plays on her face.

Not today.

Maybe she has family problems or something? I didn't talk to anyone for three weeks after my mom died. Then again, I was the only person to cry over a dead cat.

"Nagasaki-san, my name's Honda, Tohru. You can just call me Tohru!"

Sora smiles. It's a true smile. You can tell by looking if the eyes are squinted up or not. Then again.. if you know that fact...

"Honda, Kitsune..."

"Hanajima, Saki."

"You already know me," Arisa states happily. Maybe a bit too happily.

"Ahh! Nagasaki-san! What are your hobbies!"

"Well, I uh...I like writing, sketching and daydreaming. And you can just call me Sora!"

I wince as Sora flashes an excellent smile. Those were the exact words I had said a few days ago. Is she a stalker or something?

I bet she is.

The interrogation goes on. It goes well, Arisa and Tohru taking turns to question her. I make a few humorous remarks which cracks everyone up, including Saki and Sora. Saki stays silent.

She mentions all her good grades, and says that she should have come first for the math tests because the person who came first is "a total klutz."

Did I mention that I came first?

It's not like I studied harder or something. The test was for the school mark in the entrance exams.

_What a bitch, _I catch myself thinking.

Everything goes well until Tohru asks Sora about her family.

"My parents sent me to an orphanage..." Sora's eyes tear up under her huge glasses. She looks away.

How fake.

"I-I'm sorry, Sora. I shouldn't have asked. Here's a tissue."

"It's okay, Honda-san, it's not like you knew about me." Sora wipes her eyes delicately with the tissue. She tucks a strand of ginger hair behind her ear.

Playing the poor-poor little pitied marshmallow, aren't you now?

The bell for the last period rings through the hall. Saki gets up. "Come on Kitsune, you have your next period with me." I get up too and go.

Thank God I don't have to listen to that butthead anymore

"I'm telling you, I don't like her." Saki writes on her notebook.

"I hardly know her so I won't judge." I scribble back.

_Even though I would be more than happy to tear out her guts._

"Sora's been emitting very scrambled waves since I met her. I just think it's weird."

"Oh."

"I know you pity her because of her "backstory"."

_As if._

"Are you serious? That backstory was the cheesiest backstory that a person could think of. Even if I did, it DOES NOT give her an excuse to stalk me."

"You think she's a stalker?"

"She gave exactly the same answers as I did when you guys interrogated me" I point out, forcing a fake smile.

"Mhm. Interesting."

We work earnestly for the next ten minutes. Somehow, I just can't help but hate Sora, even though she had never done anything to me.

The bell rings. Saved.

_Thank God school is over!_ I smiled at Saki, this time a real smile. She couldn't tell anyway.

"Cya later, aligator."

"Bye."

We stand up and head our separate ways.

"Hi. I want to talk to you, Honda-san."

"Go ahead. Talk."

"Sorry. I know that I've been stalking you..."

_I knew it._

"I know what you're probably thinking right now." Sora attempts. "You probably don't want to see me again. But I only did it so I could meet you."

_I never wanted to see you anyway._

"..."

"I heard... About your past. I just feel like we're in the same situation."

About ten million different responses come to my head, but I force them down in the favour of the neutral.

"Thanks for sharing"

She nods. "Do you ever feel like you just want to kill yourself and be born again into a better life?"

"No."

"I know how it feels. It's like this kind of sadness that your life was under privileged and you want a new chance so desperately."

"Shut up."

"I know how you feel. Let's just escape."

"Huh?"

"Exactly what you think. I've always wanted to be born into a new, better life, but all at the same time, I was too afraid to do it. I wanted to do it with someone I could trust, and wish that we were born again, as twins or loving sisters. Like you,"

"..."

Sora, smiling, took her hand and held out a loaded gun.


	3. A Rainy Day

_Enjoy the chapter, and thank you and anyone who's even read this thing. I really appreciate it. I really do. To anyone who's read this before, I changed a lot of things, I hope you still like it._

I glare at her. "What, do you want me to shoot you?"

She stumbles, obviously taken aback. "What do you have against me?"

Droplets of water hit the ground.

"Everything."

"I've done nothing to you! You have no right to say that!"

"Even though I have the worst grades in the school, I'm not stupid. Blabbing on about 'escape' and how good it would be for me to just kill myself. Forcing it onto my weak spot and talking about my mother. Then giving me a loaded pistol. Who do you think I am, little girl?"

By now, the water is pouring down from the heavens.

I watch Sora's face carefully. For a fraction of a second, there is a flash of all the negative feelings a person could have - anger, rage, jealousy, despair, malice, hatred. Then it disappeared, leaving a surprised, crying Sora, weak and with a broken heart. But it was there. I know it was there.

"Honda-san...I...I'm so sorry... I-"

I shut my eyes. "Little girl, just give up. Do you think I'm going to just let you off for trying to kill me?"

"But h-he..."

I raise an eyebrow. "Did you do this of your own accord?"

"N-no...I...Akito..."

_Akito._

That name. I've heard Tohru tell me before...

"_Hi, RuRu! I missed you!" I smiled broadly to my twin. "Why don't you just live with me in my apartment? I've got three bedrooms, you know!"_

_Tohru looked away. "Thanks but... I'm living with the Sohma's!"_

_"The Sohma's? Who are they? Are they causing you a lot of trouble?"_

_"Not Really."_

_I slumped onto the sofa. 'Not really?' I narrowed my eyes. "There is trouble, isn't there, RuRu?"_

_"Kitsu, I don't really want to talk about it."_

_"Please." I said. " I can read you like an open book. You want to stay in the family, but someone doesn't want you. Correct?"_

_She winced and I knew I had hit the bull's eye._

_"Akito," she whispered quietly to herself"_

_"Akito? Who's tha-"_

_"I'll go and wash the dishes!" She jumped up and rushed to the sink like a fox whose tail had be set on fire._

_"Uh...Okay." _

I smile at the thought. At least I can appreciate her lame attempt to change the subject. And the fact that she had washed five days worth of dishes dumped in the sink.

"Akito...Tohru... Akito wants to ...to..."

Sora's eyes dim. She falls dramatically onto the pavement.

I pinch her leg to make sure that she isn't pretending.

No answer.

This is beyond weird.

* * *

><p>"Has anyone any idea where Sora is?"Arisa asks.<p>

It's been two days since that freakish incident. We're sitting in a cafe and it's taken them two days to bring Sora up. Is that a good thing or a bad thing..?

"No." I say, coquettishly sipping my smoothie, playing the part of the nonchalant, I-don't-have-a-clue person. "Does anyone else know?"

_I can't tell them. Even if I did, they would never believe me._

Saki tilts her head slightly, in my direction and her eyes narrow slightly.

Uh-oh.

But then again, being psychic has to account for something.

"Hey, Tohru," I say, changing the subject, "What's your relationship with this 'Akito'?" I sip again to maintain my 'laziness'.

Tohru tenses up, like someone has suddenly wound her around with an invisible rope.

"H-he wants me to stop meddling with the f-family. Because of the curse-" she gasps, then cups a hand over her mouth.

"The curse?" Saki, Arisa and I say at the same time. "What curse?"

Despite everything, I have to marvel at the fact that we managed a chorus with intending it to happen.

Arisa checks her watch.

"Damn! I'm late for my d-...job! See ya around!" She jumps up, knocking her chair over, and hurries out the door, lemonade forgotten.

Saki giggles. "What an interesting wavelength."

"I'll go get some more drinks!" Tohru stands up and heads cheerfully behind one of the longest lines behind the counter.

"Thanks, RuRu~!" I call.

"You were lying, weren't you?'

_No point hiding it from Saki._

"No point hiding it from Saki." she repeats. 'Actually, I already know the whole situation," she says, a playful smile on her mouth.

"Because you read my mind?"

She shuts her eyes in glee. "Because I was the one who shocked Sora."

* * *

><p>"Sorana. Why did you fail me?"<p>

"I'm sorry, Akito-sama. I..I suddenly lost balance, and then-"

"A likely story," he spat. "Yuuko, sent this trash to the dungeon. Without food for three days and three nights."

"What about school?" Sorana screamed. "What about freedom?" There were tears in the girl's eyes as Yuuko dragged her away.

"You failed." Akito looked at her, so he enjoy her pain a little longer. Such suffering. Such beautiful suffering. " Do not worry. 'Sora Nagasaki' will be expelled from Kaibara. I will see to that."

"No!" Sorana screamed. At that moment, she threw off her ginger coloured wig complete with the stiff ribbons. She tossed her makeshift, pretend glasses across the room.

Where it slashed Akito Sohma in the eye.


End file.
